1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an input device for controlling screen scroll on a display by operating rotationally a rotation member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Input devices of this type for controlling screen scroll on a display by operating rotationally a rotation member of a rotational electrical component have been known heretofore.
A rotary encoder is exemplified as the above-mentioned rotational electrical component for description of the input device according to the conventional art with reference to FIG. 20 to FIG. 23.
The input device comprises a rotary encoder 41 fixed to a circuit board 54, the rotary encoder 41 comprises a rotation member 46 having a detection target, a support member 42 having a detector, a moderation plate 52 that elastically contacts with the rotation member 46, and a mounting plate 53 for holding the rotation member 46, support member 42, and moderation plate 52 together. The rotation member 46 is rotatably supported by a fixing member comprising the support member 42, moderation plate 52, and mounting plate 53.
The support member 42 is formed as a pentagonal base board consisting of insulative synthetic resin, has an fitting hole 43 formed at the center thereof, and provided with a detector 44 comprising three conductive metal elastic pieces 44a, 44b, and 44c and terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c electrically connected to the conductive metal elastic pieces 44a, 44b, and 44c formed by insert molding.
The rotation member 46, which is comprised of a disk consisting of insulative synthetic resin material, has a rotation shaft 47 at the center thereof formed in a piece, the rotation shaft 47 has a flat area on the inside circumference surface on one end, and a hole 48 to which an operation shaft 60 described hereinafter is to be inserted is formed so as to extend in the rotation shaft line R direction and so as to penetrate to the other end of the rotation shaft 47. To avoid contact with the operation shaft 60 when the operation shaft 60 is inclined, the other end side of the hole 48 is formed so as to have a large diameter portion 48a having a larger diameter than the one end. A ring-shaped conducting plate (not shown in the drawing) is embedded on the rotation member 46, a plurality of conducting portions 49, which are a part of the conducting plate, are projected from the surface of the rotation member 46 and located at regular intervals on concentric circumferences round the center of the rotation shaft 47 for serving as detection targets 50. On the back side of the rotation member 46, and radial ridges 51 comprising a plurality of ridges that extends radially from the rotation shaft 47 are formed on the entire circumference. The one end of the rotation shaft 47 of the rotation member 46 is inserted into the fitting hole 43 of the support member 42 so that the plurality of conducting portions 49 are brought into slidable contact with three conductive metal elastic pieces 44a, 44b, and 44c. 
The moderation plate 52 is formed by press working of a metal sheet spring material, and has a projection 52 that is in contact with the radial ridges 51 of the rotation member 46 at the end.
The mounting plate 53, which is formed by bending both sides of a metal rectangular plate to be formed into a C-shaped cross section, has four pawls 53a, a pair of mounting legs 53b, and an fitting hole 53c formed by press burring work. The mounting plate 53, to the back side of which the rear end of the moderation plate 52 is fixed, is located on the back side of the rotation member 46, the other end of the rotation shaft 47 is inserted into the fitting hole 53c and four pawls 53a are folded to thereby hold the rotation member 46, support member 42, and moderation plate 53 tightly together, and the projection 52a of the moderation plate 52 is positioned in the groove of the radial ridges 51 of the rotation member 46.
Thereby, the above-mentioned fixing member comprising the support member 42, moderation plate 52, and mounting plate 53 is formed, and the rotation member 46 is supported by the fixing member rotatably by means of the rotation shaft 47 inserted into the fitting holes 43 and 53c. The plurality of conducting portions 49 and detection targets 50 constitute a pulse signal generating unit for generating the pulse signal concomitantly with rotation of the rotation member 46.
On the other hand, the circuit board 54 has terminal insertion holes 54a, fixing holes 54b, and a relief hole 54c, and a push button switch 55 is fixed at the position that faces to the terminal insertion holes 54a and the fixing holes 54b with interposition of the relief hole 54c. In the structure of the push button switch 55, a body 56 fixed and connected to the circuit board 54 is provided with an actuator 56a, a coil spring 57 is mounted on the one end of the body 56, and a shaft support member 58 having a slotted hole 58a with a top open end at the other end of the body 56 is formed.
The rotary encoder 41, which has the structure as described herein above, is fixed to the circuit board 54 by soldering the terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c which are inserted through the terminal insertion holes 54a and fixing holes 54b, and the pair of mounting legs 53c at the position that faces to the push button switch 55, and thus the terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c are electrically connected to the circuit board 54.
A disk operation body 59 is disposed between the rotary encoder 41 and the push button switch 55, a portion of which disk operation body 59 is positioned in the relief hole 54c, both ends of an operation shaft 60 that penetrates through the center of the operation body 59 fixedly are inserted into the hole 48 of the rotation member 46 and the slotted hole 58a of the push button switch 55 respectively. The operation shaft 60 is rotatable together with operation body 59 and the rotation member 46, and supported so as to be pivoted only in the vertical direction (directions of arrows B and C) of the slotted hole 58a on the one end of the rotation shaft 47.
A bush 61 is fit on the one end of the operation shaft 60, the coil spring 57 and the actuator 56a are in contact with the bush 61 to thereby hold the operation shaft 60 in parallel to the circuit board 54, the bush 61 faces to the body 56 of the push button switch 55 apart with interposition of a distance H, and the one end of the body 56 is disposed apart from the one end of the rotation shaft 47 of the rotation member 46 with interposition of a distance L1.
When an operator rotates the operation body 59 with a finger in this state, the rotation member 46 is rotated in the same direction as that of the operation body 59 together with the operation shaft 60 while the projection 52a of the moderation plate 52 is being brought into elastic contact with the ridges and grooves of the radial ridges 51 alternately to cause clicking sensation, three conductive metal elastic pieces 44a, 44b, and 44c repeats connection and disconnection with the plurality of conducting portions 49 concomitantly with rotation of the rotation member 46 to generate pulse signals, and pulse signals are sent out from the terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c as the rotation magnitude detection signal of the operation body 59 and supplied to the circuit board 54. At that time, because the flat side of the operation shaft 60 is fitted to the flat area provided on the inside circumferential surface of the hole 48, it is possible to connect the rotation member 46 with the operation shaft 60 without rattle, therefore the rotation of the operation body 59 is transmitted to the rotation member 46 consistently.
When an operator pushes the operation body 59 with a finger, the one end side of the operation shaft 60 to which the bush 61 is fitted is lowered and inclined by a distance H against the elastic force of the coil spring 57 in the direction of the arrow C round the one end of the rotation shaft 47, the bush 59 pushes the actuator 56a of the push button switch 55 to switch the push button switch 55 between On/OFF, and the ON/OFF signal of the push button switch 55 is supplied to the circuit board 54. At that time, the inclination angle xcex8 of the operation shaft 60 is equal to tanxe2x88x921 (distance H÷distance L1), the other end of the operation shaft 60 moves by a distance L3xc3x97tan xcex8 in the radial direction in the hole 48a. Furthermore, as described herein above, because the fitting between the operation shaft 60 and the hole 48 is flat-flat fitting, the rotation member 46 is inclined with interlocking to inclination of the operation shaft 60, and a large load is loaded on the rotation member 46 and a bearing of the mounting plate 53 that supports the rotation member 46 rotatably. When the operator stops pressing of the operation body 59, the operation body 59 and the operation shaft 60 are restored to the original position due to elastic force of the coil spring 57 (in the direction of the arrow B).
As the result, the rotation magnitude detection signal and ON/OFF signal of the push button switch 55 supplied to the circuit board 54 are subjected to arithmetic by means of a CPU, not shown in the drawing, provided on the circuit board 54, and then supplied to a display apparatus not shown in the drawing, and screen scroll and cursor control are carried out on a display not shown in the drawing.
Next, a method for fabrication of a rotary encoder 41 is described. First, a unit is fabricated by bonding the moderation plate 52 on the back side of the mounting plate 53 by use of a suitable bonding agent in the bonding process. In the fabrication process, the other end of the rotation shaft 47 of the rotation member 46 is inserted into the fitting hole 53c of the mounting plate 53, and then three conductive metal elastic pieces 44a, 44b, and 44c are faced to the conducting portions 49, the support member 42 is placed over the rotation member 46, and the one end of the rotation shaft 47 is inserted into the fitting hole 43. Thereafter, the four pawls 53a of the mounting plate 53 are folded to the support member 42 side to thereby hold the rotation member 46, support member 42, and moderation plate 52, and thus the fabrication of the rotary encoder 41 is completed.
However, in the case of the input device according to the conventional art as described herein above, when the operation shaft 60 is inclined, at the one end of the rotation shaft 47, the upward force F3 and downward force F4 are exerted on the contact points between the hole 48 of the rotation member 46 and the other end of the operation shaft 60. As the result, a moment is exerted on the rotary encoder 41, and the rotary encoder 41 is inclined in the direction of the arrow A. As the result, the load is exerted on the soldered portions 62 (connection) between the terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c and the circuit board 54, and the terminals 45a, 45b, and 45c can be disconnected from the circuit board 54. Furthermore, the operation shaft 60 cannot be inclined smoothly due to the reaction force of F3 and F4, and that is a problem.
Because the operation shaft 60 and the rotation member 42 are rotated together and the size of the hole 48 of the rotation shaft 47 is approximately equal to the outside size of the operation shaft 60, it is difficult to insert the other end of the operation shaft 60 into the hole 48 of the rotation shaft, much fabrication work is required to insert the operation shaft 47 into the hole 48.
The large diameter portion 48a of the hole 48 is necessary to avoid the contact with the operation shaft 60 when the operation shaft 60 is inclined, the large diameter results in a larger rotation member 46, and as the result the size of the input device 41 is large inevitably.
Furthermore, it is necessary to prepare a unit formed by bonding the mounting plate 53 and the moderation plate 52 previously for fabrication of the rotary encoder 41, the fabrication efficiency is poor due to the bonding process to be carried out before fabrication process, and the bonding process increases the time required for the fabrication process.
Variation of the mounting position of the moderation plate 52 on the back side of the mounting plate 53 causes the variation of clicking position obtained by means of elastic contact between the ridges 52a of the moderation plate 52 and the ridges/grooves of the radial ridges 51, the variation causes mis-timing with the output of the above-mentioned rotation magnitude detection signal. To avoid the mis-timing, it is required to improve the mounting accuracy, the positioning work of the moderation plate 52 becomes very complex, and the such positioning work results in high fabrication cost due to increased fabrication work, that is a problem.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above-mentioned problem of the conventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an input device that is capable of maintaining the connection between terminals and the circuit board in good condition when the rotational electrical member is inclined by eliminating the load exerted on the contact between the terminal and the circuit board. It is another object of the present invention to provides a small-sized input device that is fabricated easily because the operation shaft is easily inserted tightly, that is not involved in the problem when the operation shaft is inclined because the reduced force is exerted on the contact point between the hole of the rotation member and the operation shaft at the time, and that realizes smooth inclining operation of the operation shaft.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a rotational electrical component that can be fabricated without bonding process prior to the fabrication process and that can be fabricated easily because the mounting position of the moderation plate is positioned easily.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, an input device of the present invention comprises; a rotational electrical component having a fixing member, a rotation member supported rotatably by the fixing member, and a terminal for generating the electric signal generated concomitantly with rotation of the rotation member, a circuit board to which the terminal is connected and the electric signal is supplied, an operation shaft that is formed so as to extend in the shaft line direction of the rotation member having the one end fitted to the rotation member for rotating the rotation member, and an operation body provided to the operation shaft, wherein the terminal has a flexible portion that is bent when the rotational electrical component is inclined concomitantly with pushing operation of the operation body in the perpendicular direction to the shaft center of the rotation member.
Accordingly, when the operation body is pushed in the direction perpendicular to the shaft line of the rotation member, because the flexible portion of the terminal is bent and the rotational electrical component is inclined, the connection between the terminal and the circuit board is not subjected to a large stress, the connection between the terminal and the circuit board is maintained in good condition, and the operation body is pushed smoothly.
In the above-mentioned structure; a mounting plate for mounting the rotational electrical component on the circuit board is provided to the fixing member, and an extension that is in contact with the circuit board is provided to the mounting plate so as to face to the opposite side of the terminal that is facing to the operation body, and the rotational electrical component is inclined round the contact portion between the extension and the circuit board concomitantly with pressing operation of the operation body.
Accordingly, because the rotational electrical component is inclined smoothly round the contact portion, the operation body can be pushed smoothly.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned structure; the extension of the mounting plate is provided so as to be in contact with the plate surface of the circuit board.
Accordingly, the rotational electrical component is rendered inclinable with simple structure without soldering.
In the above-mentioned structure, an extra portion is provided on the terminal, and the flexible portion is formed of the extra portion.
Accordingly, the rotational electrical component can be inclined smoothly.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned structure, the extra portion is formed by bending the terminal in C-shape.
Accordingly, the rotational electrical component can be inclined smoothly.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned structure, the extra portion is formed so that the opening of C-shape is faced to the operation body.
Accordingly, the rotational electrical component can be inclined smoothly.
In the above-mentioned structure, a plurality of terminals are provided, and the plurality of terminals are formed projectingly from the fixed member toward circuit board so as to be arranged on one plane perpendicular to the rotation shaft line of the operation shaft.
Accordingly, the rotational electrical component provided with the plurality of terminals can be inclined smoothly concomitantly with pushing of the operation body.
In the above-mentioned structure, a push button switch that is driven by means of the pushing operation of the operation body is provided.
Accordingly, a plurality of inputs can be supplied.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, an input device of the present invention is provided with; a fixing member, a rotation member supported rotatably by the fixing member having a hole that extends in the rotation shaft line direction, and rotational electric component for generating electric signal concomitantly with rotation of the rotation member, an operation shaft having the one end inserted fitly into the hole of the rotation member for rotating the rotation member, and an operation body provided to the operation shaft, wherein; the hole has a polygonal hole provided on the operation body side into which the one end of the operation shaft is inserted fitly and has a hole having a diameter larger than that of the polygonal hole provided next to the polygonal hole, a taper having the diameter that decreases from a large diameter at the one end facing to the operation body to a small diameter at the other end on the inside circumferential surface of the polygonal hole is provided, and a step is formed between the polygonal hole and the large diameter hole.
Accordingly, because the one end of the operation shaft is fitted to the center of the rotation body, the inclination angle of the operation shaft can be reduced in comparison with the conventional input device, the operation body can be pushed smoothly, the rotation member can be made small-sized, as the result, the small input device can be realized, and the operation shaft can be inserted fitly into the hole with aid of guiding action of the taper, and the fabrication efficiency is improved.
In the above-mentioned structure, an angle made by the taper and the rotation shaft line is 3 degrees.
Accordingly, the operation shaft is supported stably by the taper when the operation shaft is inclined concomitantly with pushing of the operation body.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned structure, the polygonal hole is a hexagonal hole.
Accordingly, the operation shaft can be inclined smoothly at any rotation angle position of the rotation member.
To achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention, an input device of the present invention is provided with; a fixing member and a rotation member supported rotatably by the fixing member, wherein a through hole that penetrates in the rotation shaft line direction of the rotation member is provided on the fixing member at the position outside the rotation member.
Accordingly, the input device such as an encoder can be fabricated only by mounting component parts of the fixing member and the rotation member to the tool successively, as the result the production efficiency is improved.
Furthermore, the fixing member comprises a support member, a moderation plate for causing clicking sensation concomitantly with rotation of the rotation member, and a mounting plate for holding the support member and the moderation plate together one on another.
Accordingly, the mounting position of the moderation plate on the mounting plate can be determined only by inserting the tool into the through hole, as the result the production efficiency is improved because positioning work for positioning the moderation plate on the mounting plate is not necessary.
Two through holes are formed on the fixing member.
Accordingly, the positioning between component parts of the fixing member, particularly positioning of the moderation plate on the mounting plate, can be performed accurately.
A pair of stopper holes that face each other with interposition of the through hole are formed on the mounting plate on both sides of the through hole, and a pair of projections to be fitted to the pair of holes are provided on the support member.
Accordingly, mounting position of the support member on the mounting plate will not be displaced even after fabrication.
A pair of stopper holes that face each other with interposition of the through hole are formed on the mounting plate on both sides of the through hole, a pair of stopper holes that penetrate facing to the pair of stopper holes of the mounting plate are provided on the moderation plate, and a pair of projections for being inserted into the pairs of stopper holes of the respective mounting plate and moderation plate for engaging are provided projectingly on the support member.
Accordingly, mounting position of the support member on the mounting plate will not be displaced even after fabrication.